Football

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Franklin College led the conference with eight players on the 2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team, including the conference's Offensive Most Valuable Player. Franklin's Chase Burton (Corydon, Ind. / Corydon Central) has been named the HCAC Offensive Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, while Bluffton's Isaac Zickafoose (Middlebury, Ind. / Northridge) picked up the HCAC Defensive Most Valuable Player award.

Rose-Hulman's Matt Murray (Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder) was honored as Special Teams Most Valuable Player for the first time, while Rose-Hulman's head coach Jeff Sokol garnered Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Mount St. Joseph University's Chaiten Tomlin (Mt. Orab, Ohio / Western Brown) was named Freshman of the Year for his efforts this fall.

Burton, a junior quarterback for the Grizzlies, has passed for 3,761 yards this fall, ranking third in all of NCAA Division III. The junior is averaging 376.1 yards per game, while amassing 42 passing touchdowns, ranking first in all of NCAA Division III. During conference play, Burton averaged 375.0 passing yards per contest and tossed 35 touchdowns, breaking his own HCAC-record from last season. The second-year starter crossed the 300-yard passing mark eight times in ten games, including a 532-yard performance against Hanover.

Zickafoose, a sophomore defensive lineman for Bluffton, led the Beavers defense this season that ranked among the conference leaders in total defense (4th). The sophomore tallied 46 total tackles, 33 solo tackles, and 11.5 sacks this season. Zickafoose also has 20 tackles for loss for a total of 111 yards and one forced fumble from the defensive tackle position.

Murray, a junior kicker for Rose-Hulman, led the conference in field goal percentage this fall. The junior totaled 42 points on 5-6 from field goals and 27-29 on extra point attempts. Murray was also tabbed as the punter for the Fightin' Engineers and averaged 40.0 yards per punt with 15 attempts landing inside the 20.

Tomlin, a freshman quarterback for Mount St. Joseph, played in all 10 games for the Lions this season. The freshman threw 176-288 for 2,356 yards and 28 touchdowns. He led an offense that ranked second in the conference with 274.8 passing yards per game.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's head football coach Jeff Sokolhas been named the HCAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career as the head coach for the Fightin' Engineers. Sokol led Rose-Hulman to an 8-2 record this fall and their second regular season HCAC title. Sokol also led the Fightin' Engineers to their sixth season in program history with eight or more wins, and its first ever automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs.